Fixing ‘Handshake Failure’ Error on PayPal Checkout for WooCommerce Stores

Earlier this year, PayPal introduced a number of security-related product updates.

This post is intended for developers facing issues while testing orders in WooCommerce Stores with regards to PayPal Standard Payment Gateway and PayPal Do Direct Payment. According to PayPal, post security updates, PayPal Standard will not work and hence you will get errors when a customer places order from a WooCommerce Store.

This has been a frequent issue whilst we were testing WooCommerce Stores with respect to order placement with PayPal Payment Gateway. It is important to note that this is not an issue from your development side. This is happening because PayPal has updated its security policy.

So far, the following errors have emerged –

1. "quot;error:14077410:SSL routines:SSL23_GET_SERVER_HELLO:sslv3 alert handshake failure&quot"

2. WooCommerce order status always stays in "Pending" status.

Here’s what to do about these errors

First, you need to upgrade your server and must have the following configurations

•  In your server must have OpenSSL 1.0.1+
• In your server must have (lib) curl 7.34+
• In your server must have PHP 5.5.19+

If you follow this step, it will solve the error.

For more information regarding PayPal security policy, please check the following:

• https://devblog.paypal.com/upcoming-security-changes-notice/
•  https://www.paypal-knowledge.com/infocenter/index?page=content&id=FAQ1766&expand=true&locale=en_US

We hope this helps you resolve the handshake failure error on PayPal Checkout while testing the sandbox and live account with your store.

Please feel free to share any questions or thoughts in the comments below. We will be happy to help.